The Marius reforms of the Roman Army were all the measures taken by the consul to professionalize the Roman legions. His goal was to strengthen and enlarge his forces, changing the character of the army. Up until then, it had the characteristics of a temporary militia, which was hastily assembled for a specific military campaign. Therefore, he completely upgraded it, beefing it up and converting it into a regular and professional standing army.
In order to successfully carry out the Roman military campaign in the kingdom of Numidia, in northwest Africa, Gaius Marius, who was then Consul and commander of the legions, decided to raise a powerful army in 107 BC, with efficient professional soldiers. He proceeded to make use of the mass of plebeians (poorest social class), making them eligible for professional military service. Before that, only farmers, proprietors, and patricians made up the main body of the army, being quickly assembled and deployed as the military needs arose. Therefore, the property qualification was abolished, allowing poor workers to volunteer for service.
Gaius Marius also organized a new rectangular formation, which was called the 'cohort', consisting of 500 men. The maniple was reorganized, too, as it was reduced to 100 men from the 120 it used to have. He called this new maniple 'century', since it was compose of 100 soldiers.
In the Marius reforms of the Roman Army, the new recruits were subjected to a whole time rigorous training. Every soldier was well accoutered by the Roman State with a gladius (sword), javalin, a pugio, a helmet, and the large rectangular shield. They were drilled to become highly proficient in hand-to-hand fighting. Marius also made their troops carry their own campaign equipment, which was heavy. This way, they were not dependent on a logistic train (mule-drawn carts). He also kept his troops extremely fit by assigning them public works, such as drain ditch digging and bridge building.
Professional Roman soldiers (from “the Golden Eagle”)
